Reeva's last moments detailed in court

By admin

19 March 2014

June Steenkamp stole glances at photographs of a bloodied crime scene as a police ballistics analyst revealed in the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday his version of the last moments of her daughter Reeva.

"She was in a defensive position," Christian Mangena testified, as Oscar Pistorius, who had been dating Steenkamp for a few months before he shot her, sat bent with his head in his hands. June Steenkamp quickly looked away after each glance at the screen next to her, as Mangena took the court through his grim findings. He had just testified that, according to bullet holes A and B on the door through which Pistorius shot his girlfriend Steenkamp, she had been hit in the hip and the second shot ricocheted.

The ricocheted bullet caused an injury to her back.

The effect of the Black Talon expanding bullet caused her to fall onto a magazine rack in the toilet cubicle.

"By then she was in a seated position with her back towards the wall," said Mangena.

He demonstrated the defensive position by bending over and crossing his arms over his chest and head.

"Now how do we determine that?" said Mangena, standing during his testimony. She had an entrance and exit wound on her arm, with body tissue from her right arm transferred to the black vest she was wearing. Bullet fragments damaged her vest, indicating her right arm was lifted up and was in front of the chest.

'After this wound was inflicted she dropped immediately'

She had a wound to her left hand from when a bullet penetrated her head, said Mangena.

He demonstrated to the court that according to his findings, she would have had both hands over her head, with the left and right hand crossing on top of the head.

That bullet broke into two fragments.

One was removed during the post mortem on her body, and the other left her body to become the one that hit the wall.

"After this wound was inflicted, My Lady she dropped immediately," said Mangena.

From the seated position, she would have dropped to the right hand side of the toilet cubicle with the rest of her body on the magazine rack.

Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to the charge of murdering Steenkamp saying he thought there was in an intruder in the house and when he realised he had shot her, he broke down the door with a cricket bat to free her.

She died on the scene.

Pistorius also faces charges under the Firearms Act for the alleged discharge of firearms at a restaurant and out of the sunroof of a car.